Pin tray for metal desk center drawers



J. v. CRELL 2,442,038

PIN TRAY FOR METAL DESK CENTER DRAWERS Filed Feb. 1s, 1947 lill" Mlilnmh/ ESI-TJ AINI/ISNTOR. :f4/W5S K ffu.. BY M M@ ATTORNEYS.

May 25, 1948.

llllllllllll- Patented May 25, 1948 PINYTRAY' 'FOR METAL' DESK' CENTER DRAWERS' J ames-V Grell,. Norwood, rOhio, ,assgnor to; Thef .GlobeeWernicke :'Co.,Norwood, Ohio, 2vv corporation .of .Ohio

Applicationl February 13, 19117,fseriallllo.V 7 28;217

13 Claims. 1

This invention relates Vto'apin .'trayg'or the like for the :center drawerfof a fmet-al desk.'

Because 'whenga :desk drawer-is rapidly closed, loose items in .the desk tend-"to gravitate toward theback of -the-drawer where-:they are hard nto reach, it hasy become customary 'irr the .tradel to provideadjacent the iront `facel of the drawer, a relatively narrowwtray Awhich may or may not ,bei subdivided into compartments for 'the puipose of holding. small` articles to which Yready access is desired. Such trays are usually used for pencils, paper clips; vpins, rubber Abands .andthe like. In order toipermit th'euser lto lreadilygraslo objects in the tray, it is usually made offcur-ved cross section.

The. -provision 4of y pin trays f in "metal *desksxlias n beenv a rather difcult'problembecause the drawer and the tray are bothof sheetimetalandit is substantially impossible `to.-make"the-tray vintegraler of the samepieceaof material asfthe drawer. Various expedientsnhave been`proposed whereby the tray is a.separate--element to` be inserted Iin .the drawer-duringeassembly but none vof these has .proved whol-lyfsatisfactory. Either thev tray cannot later be .removed from the 'drawer if'desired, orelse it is not iirmly held rin-engagement with the drawer. Furthermore,-.the provision of partitions for. theetray .hasfpresenteda problem in fabrication.

With4 the. aboveconsiderations iinxmind itis an object of my .invention to.. providev a tray whi'lcl'i is simple inconstructionand.. can :therefore be' easilyfabricated. It is .another object .of my invention to provide a tray as outlined, which can easily and quickly be assembled'tothe drawer but which can "Withequal ease be removedffrom the drawer if necessary. A further objectoffmy invention resides in the provisionof simple parvtition elements, which can easily -beassembled with the tray. andthe drawer an'd'which when assembled are rmly heldkinposition.

'These' andxother objects-ofnnyinvention which will bei describedin more ldetail11hereiuafter vor which will be appa-rent. toone skilled .inthe art upon reading these specications, I`- accomplish that certain :construction: and arrangement of Y parts 4'of which VIIv shall .now describe an exemplary embodiment.

Re-ference is made torftliefdrawing.;forming.: a part hereof and in which:

Fig.; .iris axplan .View yof.a-draWer provided kwith a vtrayaccordingl 'to z-myfinvention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational View of the same.

Fig, 3 isa side-.elevation of the ,.same.

Fig; 4 is .a .cross isectional View taken on the linef-4-4Vofl 'ig. ,1, vsh'owing'."the tray in-posie tion; l

Fig. 5' is a' view similarrtoFig; 4 showingthe inanrrerf in whiohthe' tray is assembled' to the drawer.

Figg is-afragmentary view `similar to Fig. 1 with the tray removed.l

Fig. v'7'. isy aperspective View lof one of the' tray partition elem-ents.-

Briefly. invthe practice of 'my invention, I provide ra" metal drawer. having-1 the usual cong -urationjincluding a.- frontwall and .top iiange.

The Yto 1:)` flange `terminates inra `small down Vturned flange. The fbottornof thetifay .is'provi'ded with -a1lstrip-providinga flange: spaced from the bottornfand :the tray, which is Aofgenerally J-shaped cross section, hasportions-engaging behind the down turned ange and under thebottom flange. The-tray may be slotted `perpendicularly to `the axis` oi the dra-Wer and partitionv members of substantially rectangular configuration are insertedtin .the slots .from below to constitutedividers-forfthetray. In Figs..1, 2, and-3, I have shown a metal desk tray having a bottom Il), iront wall ll, IandtopA Aflange l2. Since the draweritself-does-not constitute a part ofv my inventiong'it-.willLnot `beefiescribed.in detail, except ytosay that it is provided withtheusual runners I3, and .may be provided wtlialock I4, as V.is-well known.y

As `most..o1early seeninFigs. 4 and 5 the top flange. i2. vterminates in. apdownturned ange .portion.|.-5. The conventional rearl face of drawer front wall is omitted, because the pintray takes .its place. Tothe bottom. oi. the drawer Hi, there is fastened asby spot weldinga..strip l5 having a cross section, best seen in Fig, 5J It agenerally Z-shaped and provides a flange H1 spaced fr ornthe' bottom lil of, the drawer. Preferably .also it extends substantially the full width Oifthedrawer', so..that;.t will; have ,the advantage of. preventing smalLcards and papers v.fromlfsliding..under thepin tray .and vbecoming caught, o1..n..the case -of smalleards .from bef cxmningwlos-t.l v

MA vr The tray itself is indicated at I8 and is generaly J-shaped in cross section. At the top it is provided with a portion I9 to iit under the flange I8 and has the oi set portion 20 to engage behind the ange I5. The hook portion of the J designated at 2l is bent downwardly providing a smooth curve of small radius at 22 and provides a second substantially J-shaped element reversely disposed to the aforementioned J-shaped configuration. The hook portion 23 f the second J-shaped portion is preferably angular, and' its terminal flange 24 is of such height as to fit snugly under the flange I1.

The structure in its assembled form is suchV that it cannot be accidentally dislodged and yet the tray may be readily removed by taking the drawer out of the desk and holding it in a subl l stantially vertical plane with the lock portion up and dropping it a few inches to the floor.V` The slight jarring thus produced will dislodge theV tray, so that it may be removed from the drawer.

Partitions for the tray are usually desirable and by my construction partitions can readily be provided. The portion y2| is slotted perpendicularly to the axis of the tray in as many places as partitions are desired. The slots are best seen in Figs. 4 and 5 and terminating at 25 and 26.

The partition members, best seen in Figs. 4, 5, and 7 are substantially rectangular and are provided with a cutaway portion at 21 to vleave the finger 28. The finger 28 is shorter by the thickness of the metal from which the tray is made, so that when the portion 29 of the partition rests on the bottom, there will be room for a thickness of metal between the bottom of the drawer and the finger 28.

The partitions are slipped upwardly from beneath into the slots and the finger 28 of each is Y.engaged Awithin the hook portion 23 of the tray. When the tray is assembled in the drawer, as seen in Fig. 4, the partition members are securely held against displacement. They are longer than the distance between the points 25 and 21B, so that they cannot be swung upwardly through the slots and they cannot slip forward, because of the finger 28 being engaged by the hook portion 23.

At points where partitions are to be provided, itis, of course, necessary to cut out the flange l'lV as indicated at 29 in Fig. 6. The cutaway portion 21 permits the clearance of the strip I6, so that the portion 29 can rest on thedrawer bottom. y

It will be seen that I have provided an exceedingly-simple tray construction in which the tray replaces a wall normally required in the drawer andY which can readily be assembled and disassembled in relation to the drawer.`

Numerous modificati-ons will,v suggest themselves to those skilled in the lart and for this.

Yreason I do not intend to limit myself in any manner, except as `setforth in the claims which fonow.

' Having now fully described my invention, Ywhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a metal vdesk center drawerhavlng a front wall, a top flangev extending rearwardly therefrom, and a flange extending downwardly from the latter, a pin tray extending substantially the width of said drawer, said tray beingsubstantially J-shaped in cross-section and having anrelement along its upper edge adapted to 'engage behind said downwardly extending flange,

spaced from the bottom thereof parallel to said drawer front, the inturned portion of said tray being adapted to be held under said drawer flange.

2. A structure according to claim 1, in which said tray is partially slotted normal to its axis, and in which a partition member is retained ln said slot.

`3. A 'structure according to claim v2, in which said partition member is of a height to be substantially held against the bottom of said drawer by the ends of said slot, and is of a length greater than the length of said slot.

4. A structure according to claim 3, in which said partition member has a portion cutaway to Vclear said drawer iiange.

5, In a metal desk center drawer having a front wall, a top flange extending rearwardly` therefrom, and a flange extending downwardly from the latter, a pin tray extending substantially the width of saicL drawer, said tray being engage behind said downwardly extending ange, l

said tray having a wall extending downwardly 'from the hook portion of said J and inturned at the bottom, and said drawer having a substantially Z-shaped element fastened to the bottom thereof to provide a flange spaced from said bottom and extending substantially the width of said drawer, the inturned porti-on of said tray adapted to be held under said drawer ange.

6. A structure according to claim 5, in .which said tray is partially slotted normal to its axis, and in which a partition member is retained in said slot.

7. A structure according to claim 6, in which said partition member is of a height to be substantially held against the bottom of said drawer by the ends of said slot, and is =of a length greater than the length of said slot.

8. A structure according to claim 7, in whichY said partition member has a portion cut away to clear said drawer flange.

9. In a metal desk center drawer having aV front wall, a top Yiiange extending rearwardly therefrom, and a ilange extending downwardly from the latter, a pin tray extending substantially the width of said drawen'said tray being substantially J-shaped in cross-section and having an element along its upper edge adapted to engage behind said downwardly extending flange, said tray having a wall extending downwardly from the hook portion of said J, and constituting :and in which a partition member is retained in said slot. i

11. A structureY according to claim 10, in which said partition member isV of a'height to be'substantially held against the bottom of said drawerV by the ends of said slot, andis of a length f greater than the length of said slot.

12. A structure according to claim 11, in which said partition member has a portion cut away to clear said drawer ange.

13. A structure according to claim 12, in which said partition member is provided with a nger portion of a size and shape to engage in the hook portion of said second J-shaped portion. and said drawer flange is cut away to accommodate said finger portion.

JAMES V. CRELL.

REFERENCES CITED I The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Wege Jan. 25, 1938 May Nov. 7, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Australia July 3, 1928 

